Visvaldas Matijošaitis

Visvaldas Matijošaitis (* 1957 in Vičiūnai , Kaunas ) is a Lithuanian politician and entrepreneur , founder and main shareholder of the Lithuanian fish products group Vičiūnų grupė , and since 2015 mayor of Kaunas municipality . In 2006 Visvaldas Matijošaitis was the eighth richest Lithuanian (according to Veidas magazine ) and from 2015 the richest Lithuanian mayor.

Life

Visvaldas Matijošaitis studied at the 13th Kaunas Middle School (later St. Mato High School) in Panemunė . After graduating from the Kaunas 7th Middle School in Šančiai in 1975, he completed his diploma studies at the Inžinerijos ir statybos institutas in Vilnius from 1975 to 1980 and became an engineer - mechanic .

From 1981 to September 1991, Matijošaitis officials and militia in the system of the USSR - the Interior Ministry in Soviet Lithuania . His first position was in the crime scene , followed by a deputy chief on patrol. He worked the longest in the personnel department of the Kaunas militia. Subsequently, he was the deputy head of the Požėlos Political Work Department in the Kaunas City Internal Affairs Department (activities: raising awareness of the militia among employees, etc.). By August 1991, all militiamen had to decide: to take the oath of the Republic of Lithuania and become a police officer or to leave the service. Matijošaitis took the oath, went to the Lithuanian police and left the office.

Matijošaitis was one of the organizers of the development of Lithuanian business enterprises in the EU, for which he was awarded by the President of Lithuania . It sponsors several cultural events and festivals. Since 2011 he has been a member of the Kaunas City Council . In March 2015 he was elected mayor of Kaunas in the direct elections of Lithuanian mayors with a majority of 60% in the second ballot. In March 2019, he was elected mayor of Kaunas in the local elections in Lithuania in 2019 with a majority of 81% in the first ballot.

Matijošaitis is the leader and list leader of the political coalition " Vieningas Kaunas ".

family

Visvaldas Matijošaitis is a widower. His wife was Irena Matijošaitienė (1957–2013), a politician, member of Kaunas City Council.

The older son Šarūnas Matijošaitis (* 1981) is a manager and heads the company UAB Vičiūnų grupė as general director, as well as being a board member or head of several of his father's companies. He is also the founder and member of the "Irenos Matijošaitienės fondas" foundation. Since 2019 he has also been a member of Kaunas City Council.

The younger son Dainius Matijošaitis (* 1985), founder and head of his own motorcycle trading company UAB MOTOSHOP (2006), has been working as Marketing Manager at UAB Vičiūnų grupė since December 2013 . He has also been a member of Kaunas City Council since 2015.